Trapped!

This story is by J. H. O’Rourke and was part of our 2020 Summer Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.

There’s a dead body beside me.  

The five of us who are left hope the men in the hazmat suits come and take it away as they had the others.  

It stinks.  

We call out to the suited-up men, who we’ve learned are named Dan and George, but they ignore us.

Just like they ignore our questions.

Where are we?

How long have we been here?

Why are we locked up?

Who are we?

We talk among ourselves.  When we first arrived, we didn’t know our own names, so we gave ourselves new ones.  

I am Ben.

Four passed away early on.  Maybe even on the same day. Then the rest of us started getting injections and that seemed to stop the dying.  

Until yesterday.

I move as far away from the decomposing body as I can and huddle with the others.

“He was old,” suggests Remy. “That might be why he died.”

I glance at the corpse. “Yes, that could be it.”

“I’m scared,” confesses Rizzo. “I don’t feel well.  Do any of you feel sick? Templeton felt sick before he died.”

“I feel okay,” I tell her.  

Besides being scared shitless that is.  What’s going to happen to us?

Before anyone else can answer, Dan and George appear.

“Would you all just shut up!” Dan shouts at us.  We stop talking and glare at the men.

“I’ll take away the dead one, you keep the others from escaping,” George suggests.

After they leave with the body, we span out.  I decide to take a nap. I’m tired from the drugs they give me.

~~~

There’s a dead body beside me.  

It’s Rizzo, the little girl who wasn’t feeling well.

I move to the other side of the locked, plexiglass room next to Remy, Django, and Splinter.

“We need to get out of here,” I tell them. “If we don’t, we’re going to die too.”

Remy, a big guy, nods and flexes. “Yes! The next time those assholes come in here, let’s make a run for it.  We’ll fight them off!”

“But I can’t fight,” Django tells us.  Her body is covered with seeping sores and she has no teeth.

“And I can’t run,” admits Splinter, nodding at the spot where his leg should be.

Our captors arrive.

“Ah shit, another one died,” George tells his partner.

“They may need a higher dosage,” Dan suggests.  “Let’s get the dead one out first.”  He uses his key to open the door.

George picks up Rizzo’s body, lifting it easily with one hand.

Remy runs toward the exit.  

Dan sees him coming and grabs him.  

I tell my legs to run too, but they don’t move.

Remy fights hard and manages to do some damage, but he’s no match for Dan.

Dan throws Remy to the floor and repeatedly stomps on his head, then looks back at us. 

“If any of you try to do what this one did, you’ll meet the same fate,” he threatens as he picks up Remy’s unmoving body.

After they leave, Django starts humming a familiar song.  

I can’t quite place it.

~~~

There’s a dead body beside me.

It’s Splinter.

The top of his head is bloody.  So is his mouth.

“He tried to escape by head-butting the door.” I jump at the sudden sound of Django’s raspy voice behind me. “Then he tried to bite his way out by gnawing at one of the air holes.  When that didn’t work, he started smashing his head again.  Over and over.” 

I turn and look at her. Her gaping, dark grimace makes her look haunted.  

I can’t believe I didn’t hear it.  I must have been in a deep sleep.

“He just snapped,” she whispers. “I feel sick. I think I’ll be next.”

Django curls up on the floor and closes her eyes.  She hums that stupid melody again.

“What the hell is that song you’re humming?” I ask, irritated.

Without opening her eyes, she answers. “Think about it.  You know it. We all do.”

I try to sleep, but it eludes me.  I’m too wound up. I need to find a way out of here.  

Running hadn’t worked for Remy, although he had inflicted quite a bit of injury to Dan, even in his weakened state.

Ramming into the door with his head and trying to bite his way through our barrier hadn’t worked for Splinter, but at least he’d attempted to escape.

I need to try too.  As I listen to Django’s even breathing as she sleeps, the beginning of a plan comes to mind.

Dan and George show up to retrieve Splinter.

“Jesus, this one killed himself!  Wait till the boss hears about this!” Dan laughs.

I don’t move a muscle while I watch Dan carry Splinter away. George follows behind him.

I know what I am going to do.

~~~

There’s a dead body beside me.

It’s Django.

This doesn’t surprise me.  She said she felt sick.

I wonder how long it will be before Dan and George come to get her.

I can’t make my move until after she’s gone.

I notice some of Splinter’s congealed blood and one of his teeth on the floor of my prison.  I hide the tooth in a corner of the room.  

The blood and the tooth will come in handy later.  

I find myself humming while I wait.  The same elusive song that Django had hummed.

Dan and George finally arrive in their hazmat suits.

George picks up the corpse while Dan turns to me.

“You’re next,” he tells me with a grin.

As soon as they leave, I get to work. I rub Splinter’s blood onto my face and body.  I make small puncture wounds in my flesh with the tooth, allowing fresh blood to intermingle with old.

Then I move near the door, lie down on my back, and wait.

~~~

There’s no dead body beside me.  

But I appear to be one.

I listen closely for footsteps.  I practice holding my breath with my mouth open and my eyes closed.

The waiting is excruciating.

Can I pull this off?  Will they think I’m dead and take me out of this hellish isolation room?

Finally, I hear them approach.

“He’s dead,” Dan tells George.  “Let’s get him out of here.  Then we’ll bring in the next group.” 

Hands lift me up.  I remain still as I feel myself being carried out of the room.  

“I’m going to take him to the cremation chamber,” says Dan.  “I’ll meet you in the office.”

“Okay, sounds good,” George agrees.  I hear his footsteps retreat.

I make my move, leaping from Dan’s hand and onto his shoulder.  My sharp, pointed teeth bite deeply into Dan’s neck. Blood spurts and covers me as I sever his jugular.

He tries to grab me, but my tail smacks his hand away.

I jump to the floor just as Dan’s body begins to fall.  

As I scurry through a hole in the wall searching for a way out, the song finally comes to me, and I whisper the words.

“Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rats… cheeky and sneaky and ravenous rats…”